In June 2025, Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) presided over the 1st Assembly of International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) held in New Delhi, Delhi.
- The Assembly, apex body of the IBCA, was attended by the Ministerial delegation from 9 countries: Bhutan, Cambodia, Eswatini, Guinea, India, Liberia, Suriname, Somalia, and Kazakhstan.
Key Points:
i.Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav was unanimously elected as the President of the IBCA by the Assembly, while, S.P. Yadav was elected as the Director General (DG) of the IBCA.
ii.The Assembly endorsed key documents, including the proceedings of the 1st International Steering Committee meeting of IBCA, which was held in April 2024; approved the Workplan, Rules of Procedure of the Assembly and the manual of Staff and financial regulations of the IBCA.
- It also ratified the Headquarters Agreement signed between IBCA and Government of India (GoI) in April 2025. The agreement will enable the IBCA to set up its headquarters and such other offices in the host country and the government recognizes the international legal personality of the IBCA and its secretariat.
iii.During the meeting, the dignitaries from the participating countries also reaffirmed their commitment for actively working for achieving IBCA’s goals for conservation of 7 majestic cat species and securing the planet’s ecological future.
About International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA):
i.IBCA is an international alliance of 95 range countries, mandated to conserve 7 big cat species, namely Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Jaguar and Puma.
- It also aims to foster global collaboration for the sustainable future of big cats, as well as underscores India’s leadership and commitment to global wildlife conservation.
ii.The IBCA was launched by the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on April 09, 2023, during the event ‘Commemorating 50 years of Project Tiger’ held in Mysuru, Karnataka.
iii.Later, in February 2024, the Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi approved the establishment of IBCA with its headquarters in India.
- Also, the Union Cabinet approved a budgetary support of Rs 150 crore to IBCA for creating a corpus, building infrastructure, and meeting recurring expenditure for 5 years i.e. from 2023-24 to 2028-29.
iv.It was formally established by the GoI, through the nodal organisation i.e. National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under MoEFCC in March 2024.
v.In January 2025, IBCA, headquartered in New Delhi (Delhi) attained legal status as a treaty-based intergovernmental organisation.
About Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC):
Union Minister- Bhupendra Yadav (Constituency- Alwar, Rajasthan)
Minister of State (MoS)- Kirtivardhan Singh (Constituency- Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, UP)
